SBI Cap report on banks soon

New Delhi, July 31: SBI Capital Markets has been asked to study the merger and re-capitalisation of state-owned banks and a report is likely this month, a senior finance ministry official said.

“We have asked SBI Caps to do a study. We have given them two assignments. One is on the re-capitalisation and other on bank consolidation. I hope within a month or so we will be getting something,” financial services secretary G.S. Sandhu told reporters.

“No formal decision has been taken but many suggestions are coming. One, of course, is of the SBI with one of its subsidiaries. (We are) working on that,” he said.

The government proposed to push the idea of bank mergers and consolidation to meet the huge re-capitalisation needs of public sector banks.

State-run banks will require additional capital of Rs 240,000 crore by 2018 under the Basel-III requirements.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the government’s campaign for financial inclusion to ensure that 7.5 crore households that do not have access to banking have at least two accounts.

Efforts will also be made to introduce mobile banking on all kinds of phones, finance minister Arun Jaitley said after a meeting with the heads of PSU banks.